The Alliance Towards Reforms or Marching Towards Reform (), also known by its Arabic short form Saairun (, ', ), was an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

electoral coalition An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political party, political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand ...

formed to gain political control in the 2018 general election. The main components were the

Shi’a Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...

Islamist Sadrist Integrity Party, the

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

Iraqi Communist Party The Iraqi Communist Party ( '; ) is a communist party and the oldest active party in Iraq. Since its foundation in 1934, it has dominated the left in Iraqi politics. It played a prominent role in shaping the political history of Iraq between it ...

, the Youth Movement for Change Party, the Party of Progress and Reform and the Iraqi Republican Group and the State of Justice Party. The alliance won 54 seats, more than any other coalition in the election. In the previous election, the Sadrists (a Shia movement emerging in the 1990s to oppose President

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until Saddam Hussein statue destruction, his overthrow in 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Ira ...

) had run as the Al-Ahrar Bloc and won 34 seats. They initially supported the al Abadi government, with Baha al-Araji serving as one of the Deputy Prime Ministers. However, they later withdrew this stance, organizing protests against government corruption and sectarianism. On 30 April 2016, supporters of the Alliance Towards Reforms occupied the Council of Representatives in protest. The coalition effectively ended when the

decided to boycott the 2021 general election.

Opposition

During a visit to Iran three months before the election, senior

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian politician

Ali Akbar Velayati Ali Akbar Velayati ( ; born 24 June 1945) is an Iranian conservative politician and physician. He is currently a member of the Expediency Discernment Council. Velayati is a distinguished professor at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Scien ...

declared: "We will not allow liberals and communists to govern Iraq," in reference to the Alliance. This comment was criticized by Iraqi secular MPs as interference in the internal affairs of Iraq.

2018 elections

The

2018 elections The following elections occurred in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general election 7 and 31 ...

saw significant gains for the Alliance Towards Reforms. They won 17 seats in Baghdad, 6 seats in Dhi Qar, 5 in Maysan and Basra, 4 in Najaf and Babil, 3 in Karbala, Qadissiya and Wasit, and 2 seats in Muthanna and Diyala. A

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

woman representing the Alliance, Suhad al-Khateeb, was elected in the

to represent the city of

Najaf Najaf is the capital city of the Najaf Governorate in central Iraq, about 160 km (99 mi) south of Baghdad. Its estimated population in 2024 is about 1.41 million people. It is widely considered amongst the holiest cities of Shia Islam an ...

which was deemed to be one of the most religious and conservative cities in Iraq. Khateeb, who is a teacher and an

anti-poverty Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics classic ...

and women's rights activist, said upon her victory: "We, the Communist party, have a long history of honesty - we were not agents for foreign occupations. We want social justice, citizenship, and are against sectarianism. This is also what Iraqis want."

Election results

References

{{Iraqi political parties Iraqi Communist Party Defunct political party alliances in Iraq 2018 establishments in Iraq Political parties established in 2018 Shia Islamic political parties Shia Islam in Iraq